Church of Vänge (Gotland)

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Aerial view of the church of Vänge
General view of the church of Vänge
Tower, nave (white) and choir of the church of Vänge.

The Church of Vänge ( Swedish Vänge kyrka ) is a country church consecrated in the 12th century on the Swedish island of Gotland . It belongs to the parish (Swedish församling ) Vänge in the diocese of Visby .

location

The church is located in the western interior of Gotland, 24 km southeast of Visby and 6.5 km southeast of Roma .

Church building

The church was built of stone in the Middle Ages. The floor plan consists of a rectangular nave , a narrower, just closed choir in the east, a church tower in the west and a sacristy in the north . The tower was originally built as a Romanesque core church around the year 1200. In the second half of the 13th century, today's nave and choir were built. The sacristy did not follow until 1866 according to plans by the architect AW Lundberg . The three strong buttresses in the north and south were probably added before the 18th century. The older church was, like the churches in Hogrän and Väte , a so-called "iconic church" (Swedish " ikonisk kyrka "). In the south facade of the chancel, walled relief stones are preserved from her, which are attributed to Byzantios . The foundations of the older church were found during the restoration led by architect Erik Fant from 1947 to 1950. The building history is clearly reflected in the exterior of the church, where the Romanesque tower appears disproportionately small compared to the Gothic nave. The tower is crowned by an octagonal spire that contains a bell plane under a canopy. The nave and the somewhat lower choir are represented by a steep gable roof covered. The church has four portals, of which the southern nave portal has the richest design. Among other things, relief stones of the older church in Wimperg are walled in. The window openings have retained their original elongated and narrow shape. The single nave nave is covered from the inside by two cross vaults, which are separated from each other by a wide belt arch . A wide, pointed triumphal arch leads into the choir with its group of three windows in the east. In the west a smaller wall opening leads into the tower room. The choir and the tower room are each covered by a cross vault. In the choir you can see frescoes from the 14th century.

Furnishing

  • The carved stone baptismal font is very well preserved. It was made by master Hegwald in the 12th century .
  • The triumphal cross from the 12th century is attached to a cross from the 13th century.
  • The pulpit was erected by Nils Fries in 1777 and painted by Johan Weller in 1778 .
  • The organ was built in 1957 by Nils Hammarberg from Gothenburg .

Sources and information

literature

  • Våra kyrkor. Klarkullens förlag, Västervik, 1990, ISBN 91-971561-0-8 , p. 686 (Swedish).

Web links

Coordinates: 57 ° 27 ′ 7.1 ″  N , 18 ° 30 ′ 41.2 ″  E